


Impossible, Improbable, Implausible

by evieva



Series: Haikyuu!! Witch AU [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Boys Kissing, Cat-Servant!Kuroo, First Kiss, M/M, Potions, Time Travel, Witch AU, Witch!Kenma, Witchcraft, Witches, idk this is mad gay and i???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-27
Updated: 2016-04-27
Packaged: 2018-06-04 21:40:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6676372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evieva/pseuds/evieva
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The servant to the smartest witch in land has a hard time believing it when he finds out his master is creating a time-jumper potion. He has an even harder time believing that it actually works, and the hardest time yet believing his own ears. </p><p>Kenma is a witch/he's trying to create a time-jumper potion/Kuroo the cat-servant makes the recipe Kenma created and uses it/and things get v gay from there</p>
            </blockquote>





	Impossible, Improbable, Implausible

**Author's Note:**

> Alright! First I'd like to give special thanks to animalwildo84 for encouraging me to write this--they enjoyed my Bokuaka one v much, and asked if I was making the Kuroken one--and here it is!! I hope you enjoy it my friend, and sorry for the wait!
> 
> I apologize ahead of time for any grammar issues--I only edited it three times since I wrote so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ and also i might change the ending?? idk it seems awkward to me
> 
> One more thing, this is 2,000 words more than the bokuaka one and I'm sorry if it's a little lengthy but I didn't know how else to finish this
> 
> Thanks and enjoy!

Quietly he snuck, keeping low in the grass. He licked his lips, bright gold eyes fixed on the pixie floating a few feet off. He had finally spotted his prey after hours of searching. She had no idea a hunter had his sights set on her.

One, two, three more silent steps and he pounced, swatting the pixie into his mouth and skillfully biting down on her neck. With a squeak she went limp, and the rest of her group flew swiftly away, scattering through the trees.

Kuroo growled in annoyance, knowing it would take him hours (possibly days) to find the group again. He wished there were an easier way to catch these things but, sadly, there wasn’t. He turned and shuffled back through the long grass towards his castle, his black tail waving blithefully above the blades.

Through the dark he made his way, until he sniffed into the castle entrance only a few could fit through and even fewer could find. He emerged into a dimly lit hallway and trotted up a short flight of stairs, passed the old-broken grandfather clock, to a door that was open only a crack. He slipped through with ease, his slim figure casting a shadow as he entered. A fire burned under the cauldron on his right, but he paid no mind to it. It was always afire since his master did not sleep.

Kuroo’s cat eyes found his witch hunched over his desk, jotting down note upon note. Kuroo jumped up onto the desk and plopped the dead pixie in front of his master. The witch didn’t look up.

Kuroo meowed, but even then his master didn’t look up. He simply continued scribbling with his quill pen.

But that didn’t bother Kuroo. Not for long anyway—for he got distracted. When his eyes caught sight of the pen moving, he couldn’t help but tilt his head as it flicked back and forth. His gold eyes followed the flashy raven feather until he instinctively reached out one of his paws to grab at it, claws and all. His master, Kenma, was quick to pull it from his reach. He had learned long ago not to let cat-Kuroo near his writing utensils.

“Kuroo, stop.” He stated, finishing the sentence he was writing. He blew on it to dry the ink. Kuroo the cat rolled over, transforming into his human form in a stretch.

“Kenma…” He drawled, spreading himself over the mahogany desk, knocking a few papers and empty glass bottles off. “You’re so cruel to me…”

“You’re making a mess.” Kenma stated, looking up for the first time. “You brought what I asked for?”

“Naturally.” The black-haired gestured to the pixie on the table, limp and lifeless. “Though I’m gonna have to track them down again if you need more than one.”

“This’ll be fine.” He picked the small creature up gently, looking it over. He looked a little sad at its state, but his eyes glimmered with that undying curiosity Kuroo both loved and despised. He set it back on the table.

Kenma stood, shuffling to his shelves for a few items; jars, bottles, tweezers and a syringe. He made his way back to where Kuroo laid atop his desk and placed each item onto it carefully.

Kuroo watched him use the tweezers to collect the pixies insect-like wings and attempt to place them in a jar. ‘Attempt’ was a good word,  since the young boy’s hand was shaking too much to fit them inside. He tutted when the wings start tearing, and Kuroo interfered when Kenma furrowed his eyebrows in frustration.

“Allow me…” He said, taking the small jar and wings in hand and accurately finishing what his master started.

“Thanks…” He muttered, now using his syringe to extract the pixie’s blood. The green, syrupy, liquid streaming into the syringe and Kenma pushed it back out into the bottle he brought over. Kuroo looked on at him in concern as his hands continued to shake. He had been worried about the boy for a while now since he seemed to refuse to eat or drink except the minimal amount and refused to sleep at all. This was because he had ‘too many things to do’; like experiment with new potions and combinations for his research. He was so obsessed with learning he appeared to those outside insane. But Kuroo knew better. He wasn’t as insane as he was bad at taking care of himself. That’s where Kuroo came in. While he could control the boy little, he _could_ speak his mind about Kenma’s habits until his master saw just how bad they had gotten. It worked sometimes when he could get Kenma to eat. Maybe he should try again.

“You know, Master—you haven’t eaten in a while.” Kenma grunted in response. “Nor have you slept for many a day now.”

“So? I’m busy. I’m working. I can’t sleep now, I’m very close.” He muttered, standing once more and shuffling to his pot. “I’ve almost finished...I just know it.”

“Yeah, but, what? You still haven’t told me…”

“There’s nothing to tell. I’m not done yet.”

Kuroo sighed. “Alright...am I done for now? Can I go get you dinner?”

Kenma shrugged and Kuroo took that to be a yes. He jumped from the table and made his way to the door. He swung it open. “You know, the fumes’ll get to you if you keep this shut.”

“Leave it shut—I don’t want anything coming in here that may interfere.”

Kuroo rolled his eyes. “Okay…” He left, leaving the door open _just_ a crack.

 

* * *

 

 

When it came time for him to return, he carried a wild hen in his mouth through the secret door and into their kitchen. He wondered if Kenma even knew he had constructed one, since he kept himself holed up in that lab of his.

The black-haired transformed back into a human and laid the wild hen on the countertop. Kenma was not like other witches—other witches’ diet consisted of (mostly) humans. Kenma, on the other hand, hated the taste of human. He said it was bitter. Kuroo couldn’t disagree. Which is why he didn’t hunt humans for Kenma—pheasants and wild hens are what Kenma enjoyed best.

The cat-servant opened a drawer and took out a sparky-looking stone. He threw it on the wood in the fireplace he constructed and it burst into flames, igniting the wood instantly. He stole a few of those stones from Kenma’s workroom, but, naturally, he didn’t notice.

After he defeathered the bird and cleaned it up, he skewered it and began cooking it over the open flame.

When he started to season it, his shoulder suddenly started burning. He rolled up his sleeve to see his witches seal blinking for his attention. Kenma needed him.

He stood, grumbling, “He better not make me taste his new potion…”

                                                                                                                             ~***~

 “Kenma!” Kuroo pushed the door open. “Whatever it is, I won’t—” He stopped short at the sight in front of him. Kenma sat on the floor, appearing to be hiccuping. Hiccuping loudly and violently.

“Ku— _hic!_ —roo,” He hiccuped again. “I put— _hic!_ —too many— _hic!_ —f— _hic!_ —frog toes.”

Kuroo repressed his urge to burst out laughing by biting down on his index finger’s knuckle. He couldn’t hide the wide smile growing on his face, though and Kenma definitely noticed that.

“Stop— _hic!_ —laughing and— _hic!_ —help me fix it.” He snapped quickly, knowing the hiccups would interrupt what he was saying at every turn if he did not.

“I can’t _fix_ it—you have to get them out.” Kuroo explained, chuckling lightly.

Kenma pouted where he sat, involuntarily jumping as he continued to hiccup in little squeaks. Kuroo breathed out through his nose, making his way over to Kenma. “I can’t believe you’re so desperate you’re testing your potions on yourself. I mean—” Kuroo picked up the frog toes bottle, turning it over to show it was empty. “—what could you be trying to achieve using _this many_ frog toes?”

Kenma sighed and hiccuped again. “I’m try— _hic!_ —ing...to create a— _hic!_ —time-jumper potion.”

The servant raised an eyebrow. “‘Time-jumper’? Kenma—the most powerful warlocks in the _world_ couldn’t create a time-jumper _spell_. Let alone a _potion._ Are you aware how impossible that sounds?”

“Yes, I know... _hic!..._ I just…” Kenma looked over at his notes. “I feel like I— _hic!—_ ’ve almost got the right— _hic!—_ combination…”

Kuroo looked over his master’s face, and upon seeing his solemn expression, softened a bit. Kuroo was very fond of the young boy sitting next to him—even if Kenma was entirely oblivious to it. For that reason, Kuroo was going to keep mum about his affection. It’d be useless to tell the witch anyway, since his feelings would never be emulated.

Kuroo looked around the room at the mess Kenma had made over the past few weeks of experimentation. “Alright, look—I’ll make you a deal.”

“You are my servant—you don’t— _hic!_ —make deals with me.”

“Yeah, right, but—just this once, _pretend_ I can.” Kuroo smiled, happy to hear Kenma’s hiccup’s dying down. “You come with me to the kitchen and eat and then go to your room and rest for a bit, and I’ll clean up in here. And when you’re good a rested up we can start fresh and work on this potion together. Deal?”

Kenma pondered for a moment, looking about the room with a tired eye. He closed his eyes and nodded, holding up his arms for Kuroo to pick him up. The black cat servant huffed out a laugh, before reaching down and lifting the younger boy into his arms.

As they exited the room, Kenma asked: “We have a kitchen?”

 

* * *

 

 

When Kenma was fed and off to bed, Kuroo climbed up the short staircase to his workroom where he promptly started tidying up and organizing. He gathered the papers and empty bottles near the bubbling cauldron. He capped a few not-so-empty-bottles and jars, and placed them neatly back on the shelves. He sorted the papers so they were straight, then piled them on one part of Kenma’s desk. He then began gathering the dirty tools and cleaning them off when something caught his eye. Kenma’s book was still open and his messy, unreadable handwriting stuck out darkly on the white page. A few items were crossed out—items such as hummingbird tongue, melted dog-shin muscles, etc. Curiously, there was one item that remained uncrossed.

“‘Dust of a grandfather clock gear…’” Kuroo whispered aloud to himself. “Hmmm…”

Kenma was probably planning on using the clock in the hall. Well, it’ll be a few hours before Kenma wakes up. Maybe Kuroo could at least prep a new batch of the recipe his master had written and grid up the gears. Then, when he did wake up, they’d be ready to start.

Kuroo remade the potion recipe once more (leaving the frog toes out this time). He had ground up the grandfather-clock gear until it was only a fine dust and now, he was waiting. Only five hours had passed, and he still had at least nine more to waste. On a normal schedule, Kenma slept a good seven to eight hours. When he went on binge-brew’s like the one that just passed, he’d sleep for nearly a whole day.

Kuroo sighed, leaning against his master’s desk. He flipped open his pocket watch to check the time again. Boy, he sucked at waiting when there was nothing to do. He had been waiting for weeks for Kenma to finish experimenting—hence his little trek to fill up on pixie wings and blood. He had grown bored waiting.

He tapped his long fingers on the desktop, eyes wandering around the room. Eventually they stopped on the clock gear dust. The cat servant pursed his lips, considering something. Kuroo had already prepared the potion, and it currently bubbled expectantly in the cauldron. He had the grandfather clock dust prepped and ready for use and a nine hour window to fill.

What was the harm in trying it out?

“It’s not like it’s gonna work anyway…” Disloyal as it sounds, Kuroo was right to think that way. No one had ever successfully created a recipe for a time-traveling potion before. If Kenma got it right, it would be a miracle. If Kenma got it wrong, it would be expected. After all, it’s said to be impossible.

Kuroo paused, remembering something. The first brew Kenma had made. Kuroo watched him make it. It was strange to watch the young witch at work on something Kuroo couldn’t understand at the time. A potion many called improbable—something only made by ‘chance’, as it were said. That potion was not chance however. Kenma new exactly what he was doing. It only took one brew, and Kuroo the cat was suddenly cast into the pot. He came out human. Kuroo’s master sure had a knack for making impossible things possible.

This memory made Kuroo rethink the impossible, and he smiled down at the gear dust. His master was smart— _very_ smart. If no one could make this, then, by god, he was a no one.

Kuroo took up the dust, and sprinkled a pinch into the cauldron. It disintegrated and the potion puffed until it turned bright pink. Kuroo raised an eyebrow. He had never seen that happen before. He turned back and placed the plate of dust back on his master’s desk and then rounded the cauldron with caution. He felt suddenly uneasy looking at it. Maybe he should wake Kenma…

 _No..._ the curious part of his mind prodded, _try it…_

Kuroo took up the small ladle hanging from the wall and scooped some of the potion. The excess in the spoon slopped out in short, hair-like streams. Kuroo almost dropped the ladle. Instead, he tightened his grip, raising the ladle to his lips.

Light flashed in his eyes and words spoken backwards whispered in his ears. He blinked, and suddenly, there was Kenma in his arms.

“We have a kitchen?” He said.

“Yeah,” Kuroo answered. He paused, shaking his head. He furrowed his brow, and looked back at the bubbling cauldron. It was pink and steaming.

“Something wrong, Kuroo?” His master asked, following his gaze.

“Huh? Oh—nothing. Just deja-vu, I guess. Let’s get you some dinner.” Kuroo stepped out of the room and to the kitchen.

He fed Kenma, and saw him off to bed. He made his way back down the flight to the second floor to the short set that led to his master’s workspace. He whistled happily, feeling as pleased as he usually did after taking care of Kenma.  As he reached the top of them, he jolted to a stop in front of the old grandfather clock. Something was definitely off.

Kuroo mindlessly moved to open the face of the clock to where it’s gears stayed frozen, rusted and covered in cobwebs. One was missing. He squinted, trying to remember when it went missing, but couldn’t. He shut the clock face and continued on his way to the work room.

He cleaned everything up as he said he would, and has he was straightening the frayed papers on the desk, his eyes caught something. A note Kenma had written in his recipe book. ‘Dust of a grandfather clock gear’. Oh, so that’s where it went. But, surely Kuroo would have seen such a thing.

The cat-servant lifted his master’s book to look for the missing dust, but saw nothing. He opened every drawer on the desk. Nothing.

Then, the cauldron popped loudly, making Kuroo jump. He looked back at it, and stepped closer to look into it. To his surprise, the potion’s ebullient surface shown with an image Kuroo couldn’t believe he was seeing. He saw himself sprinkling dust into the cauldron and he looked over it. Steam streamed up, and he saw himself back away.

The cat servant was shocked. He didn’t remember doing that.

Kuroo leaned closer to the edge of the pot and touched at the stringy, pink surface of the potion. The image in it disappeared as Kuroo was sucked into the pot suddenly. He gasped out a yell as he emerged on the other side, bursting from within the fibrous liquid. His memories came flooding back, and he hissed; “ _Oh my stars_ …”

He pulled himself from the potion, trying to fathom what had just happened. He went back in time. Kenma, he...he’d done it…

Kuroo found himself laughing, almost in hysterics. “No _way_!” He whirled back to the potion and it had resorted back to it’s previously navy blue color. What should he do? How much did he put in to go back so far? It was five hours ago, so it must have been…

He rushed back to the desk and lit the lamp that sat atop it. He pulled out his master’s magnifying glass and began counting out each particle of clock dust. He theorized each piece represented a minute. “Sixty times five is three-hundred...so it’s three-hundred to go back again, if I’m thinking correctly…” He mumbled to himself. He counted by threes until he did it a hundred times, then scooped every little piece into his palm. Not much. Maybe a rice-sized amount sat in his hand.

Kuroo ran to the cauldron again and sprinkled the dust into the liquid once more. It immediately turned bright pink. The cat-servant stopped himself before rushing back over the desk and writing out a note on a bit of scrap paper.

He pocketed the note, and hurried back to the cauldron. He sipped the liquid and the same thing happened. Flashes of bright white light, reversed voices, and then…

“We have a kitchen?”

“Yeah…” Kuroo responded. He shook his head, a powerful feeling rushing over him. “Woah…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing...just...deja-vu, I guess…” Kuroo furrowed his brow. “Let’s just get you fed.”

It wasn’t long after he put Kenma to bed did Kuroo feel something odd in his pocket. A scrap bit of paper. He unfurled it as he climbed the short set of steps to Kenma’s work room. It read;

_Kuroo. It’s me. Yourself. You wrote this note to yourself to remind you that it works. The time-jump potion works. Do something interesting that will change our history for the night, then go back to the potion in Kenma’s room. You’ll know what to do from there. You have five hours. And don’t tell Kenma._

Do something interesting? What did this even…

But, Kuroo couldn’t deny the note was written exactly the way he writes. If it was a fake, it was a damn good one. Kuroo nodded to himself, descending the stairs.

It worked, huh? It actually worked. The note was proof of that. But what did... _he_ mean about doing something interesting? Something that would change in the future? Kuroo couldn’t think of anything. He couldn’t tell Kenma—that was against the rules. Although it would indeed spice up the night, in a way.

He tried to think what future Kuroo would likely to be doing. He was _supposed_ to be cleaning, but apparently he had slacked off or something. Not unlike him, but he really wanted to do something for Kenma tonight. He really wanted to spend some time with him, just messing around creating an impossible potion which evidently succeeds. Now he had to change the future somehow...as a mission from himself…

There was only one little thing he could think of. Something he’d been meaning to do for a while, but hadn’t because there was no point. And something future Kuroo was probably going to regret.

Kuroo knocked on his master’s door, cracking it open slowly. “Kenma…?” He whispered. An almost inaudible grunt followed. Kuroo snuck closer to the witches bedside.

“I just wanted to say something...”

Kenma sighed this time, barely opening his eyes to look at Kuroo. “What…?” He mumbled.

Kuroo rubbed the back of his neck, feelings his ears grow hot. “The thing is...you know I really care about you, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Well...it’s kind of...a little more than care...you get what I’m saying?”

“Yeah...I think so…” Kenma moved his mouth out from the covers, his soft lips parting as he took in a short breath. “I love you too, Kuroo…”

The cat servant nearly lept out of his human skin. Had he heard that right? Of course he had! Kenma had said it—blatant; right out there; clear as day. The words Kuroo was afraid to say for so long.

His face burned and it felt like forever passed before he said; “U-um...I’m glad!” He chuckled, backing away from the bed. “Thanks for...talking with me…”

“Good-night, Kuroo…” Kenma whispered before closing his eyes.

“Good-night…” Kuroo whispered back, halfway out the door already. _What just…_

                                                                                                                                  ~***~

Kuroo burst from the potion, gasping as his memories swamped him once more. He immediately covered his mouth, still thinking over what had happened over the hours he was back in time. His whole body shook with tension unbeknownst to him and his core felt like it was on fire. The cat-servant climbed out of the cauldron and fell to the floor with a thump and the clatter of empty bottles.

He looked at his surroundings, estranged to see they weren’t tidy at all. Not like he had left them, anyway. He remembered now that past Kuroo was so in a state of shock that he had not finished cleaning. Kuroo didn’t blame him.

Kuroo backed away from the hot pot until he sat safely beneath his master's desk. His mind was churning, when the door opened suddenly.

“Kuroo...I heard banging...what's going on?” Kenma questioned rubbing a sleepy eye.

“Ah, Kenma! It’s nothing—I was just cleaning!” Kuroo spluttered, a bit panicked as he jumped out from beneath Kenma’s desk.

His master raised an eyebrow at the state of the place. “You haven’t done anything…”

“Uh...well...I was um…”

“You made the potion?”

“Prepped it—it, uh…” Kuroo looked down at the grandfather clock gear dust on the table, remembering the little adventures through time he had had. He sighed, knowing he couldn’t lie to his master. “...it works…”

“It does?” Kenma looked alarmed. “Kuroo—you tried it?”

“Yeah, kinda…”

Kenma paused, looking Kuroo up and down. “How very stupid of you.”

“Hey, now—”

“Anything could have happened—you could’ve gone back thousands of years!” The witch continued, and stepped over to the cauldron to look inside it.

“Well, I didn’t…” Kuroo responded, a little concerned about the way Kenma was acting. As though nothing had happened between them a few hours prior. “A-and besides—wouldn’t you have tested it on me anyway?”

“Absolutely not.” Kenma snapped, sending a sharp look Kuroo’s way. He blinked, suddenly, as if his own actions confused him. “I would’ve tried it on myself…”

Kuroo furrowed his brow, Kenma’s words reminding him of what he had said in his groggy state. Had he forgotten? Did he not know he had said anything to Kuroo at all? That would explain why he wasn’t reacting in _any_ way to what he was saying—it wasn’t tainted with embarrassment for him.

“Anyway, how does it work?” Kenma asked, finally.

“Uh—right, so…”

Kuroo explained to Kenma how the potion worked. Kenma thought it interesting that each particle of dust was equal to a minute of time passed. He also thought it strange that, no matter where an individual was in time, the potion still remained where it was made. The witch wrote down every detail Kuroo relayed to him in his journal. As he did so, Kuroo cleaned up. But it was strange because the witch kept noticing his servant giving him fleeting glances.

Had something happened during his travels that he had not told Kenma?

“Kuroo…” Kenma said seriously, making the cat-man freeze. “What else happened during your travels?”

Kenma could hear Kuroo sigh, as though he were anticipating that question. “What you said...when I woke you up.”

Kenma felt like he was electrocuted. _What…?_

“It’s um…it’s been on my mind for a while, to say the least.” Kuroo started sounding a bit calmer, as though talking about it helped.

“Oh…” Kenma said. _What is he talking about?_ What did Kenma say? He couldn’t remember.

“Yeah…”

There was a silence as Kenma continued writing notes and Kuroo continued shelving books.

“Kuroo...I need you to travel to Briar Brook. I need more of the sour kelp that grows there. I'm running low.” The witch stated, not looking back at Kuroo. It was a second before Kuroo responded.

“Sure, no problem.” He said. “It'll be a few hours—will you be alright by yourself?”

“You always ask that—of course. I'll be fine.” Kenma responded. Kuroo laughed lightly.

“Alright. I'll return soon.” Kenma heard four, nimble feet hit the ground and then the sound of the door creaking open until there was silence.

As soon as he was sure Kuroo was gone, he finished counting out three hundred and sixty dust particles.

He rushed to the potion with the dust in hand and scattered the particles into the navy brew. It turned instantly pink like Kuroo said it would.

Kenma pulled out his wand, and recited a reminder spell. “Pay attention…” He said, and he heard it echo through his head again and again. That should work.

Without further ado, Kenma took up the ladle and scooped the potion into it. He looked at it, telling himself it was for learning and for Kuroo. He felt terrible not remembering what he said to his poor servant. Especially since Kuroo felt so obviously... _odd_ about it. Kenma wanted to know what was bothering him.

The witch drank the concoction and bright lights flashed before his eyes. He heard voices, but they sounded like they were speaking backwards.

He opened his eyes, and he was in Kuroo’s arms. The cat-servant had a surprised look on his face. “What is it?” Kenma asked.

“Nothing...just deja vu, I guess…”

Kenma felt the same way, but he didn't say anything. He simply clung onto Kuroo a bit tighter as he descended the stairs to their apparent kitchen, ignoring the feeling.

They ate dinner together, then, when his stomach was full, Kenma’s exhaustion finally hit him. He wanted to be no where else but under the covers of his warm little cot, and for Kuroo to curl up next to him and let his purring lull him off to sleep. But Kuroo simply laid him in bed, tucked him in, and wished him goodnight.

Kenma was about to drift off to sleep when he heard his own voice echoing in his head. _Pay attention…_ it said. Kenma tried to open his eyes, but it felt like weights dragged them closed.

 _Pay attention..._ his voice said again, and he tried to remember when he set a reminder spell.

Just then, the door opened.

“Kenma…?

Kenma grunted in response. He was extremely tired. _Pay attention…_ said the pesky reminder. He was too tired to deal with it anymore. He just wanted it to shut-up.

The witch heard his servant come up closer to his bed. He said: “I just wanted to say something...”

Kenma pried his eyes open. “What is it?”

Forcing himself to wake up a bit more, he watched Kuroo’s body-language. His ears were tinted pink like he had something important on his mind and he rubbed the back of his neck like he did when he wished to ask something Kenma might think controversial. Those weren’t really good signs.

“The thing is...you know I really care about you, right?”

“Yeah…” Kenma responded, not certain he knew where he was going with this. “I think so…” Something thick poured over Kenma like an open bottle of manticore slobber spilling off the top shelf. A feeling he didn’t recognize completely in his grogginess. The slime-like substance must have reached his mouth, for he said: “I love you, too, Kuroo.”

Kenma watched as Kuroo froze, obviously not expecting that sort of response. The witch blinked at him, not thinking at all about what he had just said. What he had just admitted to. _Kuroo’s certainly acting strange,_ he instead thought.

“U-um...I’m glad!” Kuroo smiled, awkwardly. He stood nervously shuffling from the room. “Thanks for...talking with me…”

“Good-night, Kuroo…”

“Good-night…”

The door clicked shut and Kenma rolled over with a sigh.

_Pay attention…_

Kenma’s eyes shot open. Adrenaline raced through his body as he finally realized what had just happened. He sat straight up with both of his hands on his head in a sort of panic. _Had I just—?_

Kenma was shaking—he wasn’t sure if it was from nervousness, embarrassment, or from frustration. Frustration that he hadn’t watched his tongue. He wasn’t _stupid_ —he’d never say something like that so blatantly. If he hadn’t been so exhausted he’d never let those words form in his _mind_ let alone in his _mouth_. Yet, here they were, completely out in the open now; and they had lived in him completely ignored and shushed until now.

Kenma bit at his fingernails. _Think,_ he said, _think!_ How long had he been ignoring these feelings? No—ignoring them wasn’t the right word. Not noticing was more like it. How could this be? Kenma was renowned for his intelligence and perceptiveness. _How have I been so oblivious until now?_

Maybe it was the fact that he was a witch. Witches like himself had no use for feelings of... _love_ or _care._ Feelings like those—specifically for his servant—were unwelcome. There was no need for them.

But dear _God_! No wonder Kuroo was acting so strange. They had exchanged feelings and Kenma had been completely apathetic to the whole situation. “What do I do?” He whispered to himself, eyes darting back and forth as he thought. He couldn’t face Kuroo—not after _that._ Kenma was too shy to share such things with anyone. He kept to himself. He barely spoke. That’s one of the reasons he enjoyed Kuroo’s company so much. He didn’t have to say much for him to understand. Kuroo was very good at reading him.

 _Reading..._ Kenma looked at the davenport he occasionally used that sat in the corner of his room. He took up the lamp Kuroo left on his nightstand and rushed over to it. He took out some paper and quill and ink and began writing something out.

 

* * *

 

 

Kuroo stressed about, back and forth, in his master’s lab. It had been several hours since then—Kenma was probably still sleeping, blissfully unaware of Kuroo’s internal crisis. He hadn’t clean anything, like he was supposed to. How could he? He was a bit preoccupied.

He sighed when his ears caught a strange sound. The sound of paper sliding on the cobblestone floor. Kuroo looked over at the door and saw the shadow of feet and little fingers pushing a paper beneath the door.

Kuroo furrowed his brow, a little worried what this note could possibly say. Part of him hoped it was Kenma taking back what he said so things could go back to normal. Another part of him hoped it wasn’t.

He unfurled the note.

_Kuroo,_

_I apologize it took me so long to write this note, but I couldn’t think of any good way to put this. I wrote so many bad versions of this letter I’m starting to believe I am incapable of explaining my feelings unless I’m benumbed on sleeplessness._

Kuroo laughed lightly, running a disbelieving hand through his hair. So it _had_ happened.

_I’ll start again and go for the best I have._

_I first want to say sorry for springing this information on you. Such words were not meant to be uttered for what I believed to be eternity. I would have rathered taken them to the grave then admitted to them._

Kuroo was starting to see why he re-wrote this so many times.

_Yet, now that they are free, I can’t regret them. So I hope that you forgive me if I have caused you trouble. You didn’t even get to finish speaking before I so foolishly interrupted you with my non-sensical assumption._

_You’re not as misguided as you think, Kenma..._ Kuroo thought.

_I do pray also that you can forgive me for hiding it for so long. - Kenma_

Kuroo nearly passed out upon reading these words. Kenma had felt that way for a while and had hidden it from Kuroo? Why didn’t the cat notice?

The servant blinked. It struck him, then, that there was a large possibility that _Kenma_ hadn’t noticed until now. That the witch had been _entirely_ oblivious to his feelings.

Kuroo grinned from ear to ear. He had an idea.

The door opened with a creak, and the black-haired saw Kenma sitting outside the door with his knees to his face. Kuroo opened the door fully and leaned on the doorway. “So…” He started, looking over his fingernails nonchalantly. “Can I say what I was going to say before you so _rudely_ interrupted me?”

Kenma looked up at his cat-servant, nervous to see his expression, but, before he knew it, something soft touched his lips and pressed into them. Kenma’s hair frizzled out as a chill ran up his spine. His cheeks tingled when Kuroo’s hands touched them and all in all, he felt like he was bathing in leviathan blood. Electrified and rejuvenated.

 When Kuroo moved away, he gave a toothy grin. Kenma blinked twice, following Kuroo’s face with his eyes. His lips parted, and he said: “My inference was correct—you were trying to…” He trailed off.

“Doesn’t matter—” Kuroo said. “You said it first, therefore _I_ win.”

“This was not a competition…” Kuroo offered Kenma a hand. He took it, and rose to his feet. “And even if it was, technically _you_ admitted first.”

“Ah, but I didn’t _say_ it—I only implied it.” Kuroo countered.

“Did not.”

“Did too.”

“Did not.”

There was a pause. “Did too.”

“Did not.”

They both went back inside Kenma’s workroom together, and the witch let out a sigh. “Now, because of you, I haven’t gotten any sleep.”

“Don’t blame me too much, now, Kenma.” Kuroo smiled, then his face fell a bit. “Wait, what time is it?” He pulled out and opened his pocket watch. “Woah, I’ve gotta go.”

“Go where?”

“Uh...back to the present...I think?”

“What do you mean?” Kenma looked at the bubbling potion in the cauldron. “The time-jump potion _actually_ works?”

“I guess...I didn’t do it, _future_ me did it. Or you, probably.”

Kenma’s eyebrows furrowed as Kuroo stepped up the the cauldron. “Woah, check this out…” He said, gesturing for Kenma to come closer. But before he could look, Kuroo was dragged in and, in a bright flash, he disappeared.

Kenma rushed over and gripped the edge of the pot. “Kuroo!?” He said. worriedly. Kenma reached his hand into the bright pink potion and then he too was sucked into it.

He burst forth from the pot and his memories were pieced back together bit by bit. Everything that had just occurred happened about an hour ago, and as the witch looked around, he remembered what had happened in the previous form of the present. But this one was different.

“Kenma? What were you doing in there?” Kuroo asked, worried. He ran over to help his master out. “You didn’t go back in time, did you?”

Kenma flopped an exhausted arm over Kuroo, letting him do most of the work of lifting him out of the pot. The witch barely nodded in response, those few extra hours of sleep he lost finally catching up to him.

“What did you do?”

Kenma scrunched his face in Kuroo’s arms, not wanting to answer that question. According to this future, Kuroo didn’t go to Briar Brook for sour kelp. According to this future, Kenma remembered what he said to Kuroo when he was delirious with sleep deprivation. According to this future as well, Kenma didn’t sleep at all. And, according to this future, Kenma and Kuroo had shared feelings for one another. That was something the drained witch could take advantage of.

Kenma nuzzled into Kuroo’s chest, sighing through his nose and wishing nothing but to be back in his bed. The cat-servant must have sensed that, for, without a word, he blew out the lamp on the desk and began to leave the room.

Kenma opened his eyes for a second to see that the navy blue liquid in the pot was still bubbling, and he snapped his fingers to put out the fire.

When he was finally in bed, Kuroo the cat curled up next to him, purring as Kenma wrapped his arms around him. He ducked his face into Kuroo’s dark fur as he drifted off to sleep, knowing full well that he would awaken tomorrow to face another challenge considered to be impossible.

And he dreamed that Kuroo was right beside him, helping him accomplish it.

Now, maybe, with a few more congratulatory kisses here and there.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!! Leave a kudos and comment if you enjoyed, and I'll see you in my next one! ~<3


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